Spinner's famous hot streak

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Although he tamed the might of the West Indies of the 1980s with a 10-for at the SCG, Bob Holland, the municipal surveyor, is modest about his achievements. "I was very lucky," he says.Photo: Peter Stoop

Twenty years ago, a 38-year-old leggie spun out the
all-powerful West Indies at the SCG.

In November 1984, Bob Holland was driving back from Sydney to
his home in Newcastle with one of his three children, 13-year-old
son Craig. They had spent the day at the SCG, where Bob and Murray
Bennett had spun NSW to an unlikely 71-run victory over the West
Indian supermen.

They were chatting and half-listening to the radio when a
newsreader announced that the leg spinner had been picked for
Australia. "There were cheers everywhere," Craig Holland recalled.
"We had to pull over on the side of the freeway. When we got home,
the neighbour had printed up a sign, 'WELL DONE DUTCHY', or
something like that."

So, just a few weeks after his 38th birthday, Bob Holland, who
had learnt his craft by watching Richie Benaud and Bob Simpson,
packed his bags for Brisbane and headed for the second Test at the
Gabba. He was the great hope. Selectors had detected the slightest
hint of kryptonite in Holland's wrist spinners and, given the
troubled state of Australian cricket, that was enough for them.

It was, understandably, a memorable match for Holland - but not
for the best reasons. Australia was dismissed cheaply and then the
West Indian batsmen got stuck in. "They smashed us," he recalled.
On the Saturday night, having spent the afternoon being struck to
most parts of the ground by century-makers Clive Lloyd and Richie
Richardson, Holland rang home. Craig had made a hundred in the
local junior competition, an innings he relived for his father most
excitedly.

The following day, the West Indians had too much ammunition. "I
remember more about facing the quicks in that Test," Holland said.
"I didn't believe anyone could bowl as fast as Malcolm Marshall."
Australia lost by an innings. Kim Hughes resigned as Australian
captain.

Holland retained his spot for Adelaide, where the home side lost
again, but didn't play in Melbourne. He was recalled for Sydney, on
a deck that was going to turn.

I'd really, really love to have a bat against Shane Warne. BOB HOLLAND

"There was a bit of pressure on," Holland acknowledged, "because
the selectors had gone in with only two pace bowlers: Henry Lawson
and Craig McDermott playing his second Test. Murray (Bennett) and I
were going to be on after five or six overs. We knew we had to bowl
well. If we got belted, there was no one else to bowl."

One of the more significant moments was the landing of the coin.
Allan Border won the toss and batted. Kepler Wessels dug in rather
deeply. When he was exhumed eight hours later, he had 173 against
his name. Border declared at 9-471.

Bob Holland and Steve Rixon leap for joy as Joel Garner is caught behind during the Test Match between Australia and West Indies on 1 January 1985 at the SCG.

Holland felt good. "We had something to bowl at," he explained.
"That was important." They were coming out all right - a bit of
flight and turn, with the occasional ripping leg break. Desmond
Haynes drove at one and was caught at slip. He got Viv Richards to
spoon one to Greg Ritchie at mid-off, but the Queenslander put it
down. He was recovering from a nasty blow to the face from the
previous day.

Not long afterwards, Richards followed a quicker, shorter one
from Holland, which he guided to Wessels for his second catch at
slip. Holland had them in trouble at 5-106.

It seemed that Clive Lloyd had come to the crease with a one
iron.

"He was very dangerous," Holland said. "He was belting me back
over my head, about 10 feet high. I thought I was a chance of
getting a caught-and-bowled - or a broken hand.

"I thought maybe I can push one up like a soccer goalkeeper and
get it to mid-on or deep mid-off."

That wasn't necessary. Holland got the skipper at bat pad. The
tail offered little resistance. West Indies: all out for 163; R.G.
Holland 6-54.

Border enforced the follow-on and the wicket continued to turn.
This time, Bennett got Richards. "Viv was just getting settled,
just starting to chew gum," Holland said. "(Bennett) bowled an
absolutely perfect arm ball. The look on Viv's face when he
realised he was beaten. It was one of the great wickets."

Holland made use of the conditions, bowling with control and
variation, to take 4-90, giving him 10 wickets in the match. The
Australians won by an innings and 55 runs. Holland was the new
hope.

He toured England the following winter, playing in four of the
six Tests. He took 5-68 at Lord's. But he found an in-form David
Gower difficult to bowl at and, in a season that favoured batsmen,
struggled to take enough wickets to have an impact on results.
Despite his troubles with the bat, he was twice sent in as
nightwatchman. According to Holland, that was "two times too
many".

In Sydney the following summer, he bowled Australia to victory
over New Zealand with another 10-wicket haul, in the series won by
the Kiwis 2-1. A prolonged period of poor weather kept him from the
bowling crease in the weeks that followed and he was sadly out of
form in the Test against India in Sydney. It was his last.

He had a season as a professional with Wellington in NZ and
continued playing for NSW until retiring at the end of the 1987-88
season.

But there was more cricket in him. He played first grade for
Southern Lakes Cricket until he was 52 and then had four seasons in
the lower grades to help out the younger players. He retired two
summers ago.

These days, married, with three adult children and three
grandchildren, he works for the Lake Macquarie City Council. An
engineering surveyor, he is now the customer and technical services
co-ordinator.

Leg-spin bowling still fascinates him. "I'd really, really love
to have a bat against Shane Warne," he says, "to see the pace he
bowls at, the line he bowls. I want to see whether you can pick the
straight ones."

Holland had a serviceable repertoire: a stock leg spinner, then
the big leg spinner and a back-spinning straight one that, these
days, would be called a zooter. "I also had a wrong 'un," he said.
"But the trouble was it looked too much like a wrong 'un!"

That's Holland's way - very unassuming. Of on his career, he
said: "I was very lucky. I was a Newcastle grade cricketer who had
an opportunity to play representative cricket."

He certainly made plenty of it. Holland won two Tests for
Australia. And he gave hope to a lot of aspiring cricketers.